El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark J. Seitz said if Jesus crossed the Mexican border into El Paso, he wouldn't get far before being stopped.

Seitz wrote a letter addressing faith and compassion as Tornillo has become the site of a tent city housing immigrant children.

In the letter, Seitz reflected on the words of Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980.

“We fear that if Jesus of Nazareth returned, as at that time, from Galilee to Judea, that is, from San Juan Ostuncalco, Guatemala to Laredo, Texas or from Parral, Chihuahua to El Paso, we dare say he would not get as far as Sacred Heart Church downtown before being detained,” Seitz wrote. Concerns of being a person of faith during a time of suffering also were brought up by Seitz in the letter.

U.S. border and immigration officers have separated about 2,000 migrant children from their parents at the Southern Border under the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy.(Photo11: USA Today)

“All things have been made one in Christ. And still, Christ is found in the one lonely migrant who knocks at our door, looking for respite,” he said in the letter. “Now, let us feed them, pray with them and wash their feet.”

Seitz’s mention of feeding and washing their feet alludes to a Bible verse, which mentions Jesus washing the feet of his disciples in John 13:1-17.

The El Paso religious leader's letter comes at a time when quotes from the Bible surround the controversy of immigrant children being separated from their families.

Jason Villalba(Photo11: WFAA)

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not the only political leader to quote the Bible amid the controversy.

State Rep. Jason Villalba, R- Dallas, called upon a higher power to challenge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene.

Villalba wrote an open letter Tuesday to Abbott, whom he addresses as his friend, about the children being held in a detention center in McAllen. Like Sessions, Villalba turned to Scripture to make his point.

He also asked Abbott, a Republican seeking re-election, to listen to the recently released audio of the cries of immigrant children who had been taken from their parents.

"These children did not make the decision to violate our laws to be in this country nor have they committed any crimes. Their parents did," he said in the letter. "But for the sins of their fathers, these little babies are suffering. Alone, scared and fearful."

Genin Rodas, 29, and his son, Edison Rodas, 5, from Honduras, embrace as they wait for a family member to buy them a bus ticket after being released by U.S. Immigration officials May 7, 2018, at the Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley refugee center in McAllen, Texas. Rodas and his son were separated for four days as they were held in a detention facility by the U.S. Border Patrol.(Photo11: Casey Jackson/Caller-Times)

Before addressing the issues at the border, Villalba thanked Abbott for all his efforts at keeping children safe in Texas schools, in response to school shootings in Texas and elsewhere in the nation.

Abbott convened meetings to come up with proposals to help improve safety after a school shooting May 18 in Santa Fe, Texas, left 10 dead.

"Governor, I have tremendous respect for you and for your dedication to the Rule of Law. I know how seriously you take the security of the millions of Texans that you have vowed to protect," Villalba said in the letter. "I also know that our porous southern border has resulted in a situation that is unsafe and untenable."

He also ended the letter with a Bible verse, a few days after Sessions quoted Romans 13 to defend the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families.

Sessions quoted the first half of the verse: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Texas State Representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Governor Greg Abbott about immigrant children being separated from their parents at the border. The letter was posted on Villalba's Twitter account.(Photo11: Screenshot)

The verse then refers to paying taxes and says those who do right will be commended, while those who do wrong will be punished.

Villalba's choice of Bible verse, Matthew 25:40, calls for compassion: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done for Me."

Villalba goes on to say he continues to pray for the "innocent children."

In the letter, he also asks Abbott to not use Texas tax dollars in the "advancement of this morally repugnant practice of separating children from their parents."

Villalba even offers to spearhead efforts to find private funds to pay for family facilities for those being processed.

"That way, while Texas enforces the Rule of Law, we can keep these families together before they are returned home," he said in the letter.

"Will you help?" Villalba asks Abbott.

Abbott blames Democrats for child separations

While Abbott has yet to respond directly to Villalba, he told CNN that Democrats are to blame for the ongoing separations.

"This is horrible, and this rips everybody's heart apart about what's going on. ... Republicans have an offer on the table. All the Democrats have to do is take it and this could end today," Abbott said.

Other religious leaders also spoke out on the policy.

Bishop Michael Mulvey, of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, said in a statement June 13 on the diocese's Facebook page that the separation was "another attack on families" and called on Christians to help immigrant families.

“All human life is to be respected. I join Cardinal (Daniel) DiNardo in calling for a profound respect for every human life and for families,” Mulvey said in the post. “The separation of children and parents is another attack on families. As brothers and sisters in Christ, let us do what we can to support immigrant families and all those who seek a more dignified life.”

The post also included a letter from DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the archbishop of Galveston-Houston.

In his letter, DiNardo expresses concern for women seeking asylum in the United States.

“These vulnerable women will now face return to the extreme dangers of domestic violence in their home country,” DiNardo said in the letter. “This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence."

He goes on to say that the decision contradicts the purpose of asylum, which is to preserve the right to life. DiNardo also urges policymakers to “respect and enhance” the asylum system.

“Additionally, I join Bishop Joe Vasquez, Chairman of the (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’) committee on Migration in condemning the continued use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the Administration’s zero tolerance policy,” DiNardo said in the letter. “Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together.”

Sean Maloney, a priest at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi, feels the rising division may be irreparable.

“We have two sides that are so divided I am not certain they can be put back together,” Maloney said on his Facebook page. “I have and always believed that it was our faith that would call us back together. Yet that seems to largely be abandoned and playing a distant third to people’s political ideology and their desire to win.”

Maloney also hints that the separation at the border could lead to “another civil war.”

He ends his post by addressing God, asking for mercy for all.

“We have hardened our hearts against you and each other,” Maloney said in the post.

Texas State Representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Governor Greg Abbott about immigrant children being separated from their parents at the border. The letter was posted on Villalba's Twitter account.(Photo11: Screenshot)